Gujarat has become world famous thanks to our current PM . With so many ongoing activities like the Vibrant Gujarat which assembles foreign and domestic dignitaries and business tycoons under one roof, or the spectacular site of a glistening white Rann under the full moon at the “Rann Utsav” of Kutch that showcases and celebrates Kutchchhi Culture and Handicrafts, Gujarat has quickly become one of the most sought Tourist destination of India.
Be it Heritage, Technology, Culture, Development, Food or Fashion – Gujarat is one such state which has all of it in abundance. And when it comes to Tourism, Culture and Handicrafts no other part of Gujarat exemplifies them as mush as the Kutch area. Kutch, a district of Gujarat State, is also the largest district of India. Kutch has always been famous for its pristine white sands and its world renowned cultural handiworks like its traditionally stitched mirrored embroideries.
Kutch is one of the most productive regions in India in the area of textile art and Kutch embroidery is one of its most popular and easily identifiable styles of embroidery with its dense motifs, vibrant colours, beads and intricate/extensive needlework that embellishes the entire fabric with a variation of mirrors sewn into the embroidery. Deriving its name from its places of origin, Kutch Work is also commonly known as “Kachchi Work or Kutchchhi Work”.
Usually adorning cotton or silk fabric, Kutch embroidery draws its inspiration from the romantic, age old architectural and human motifs as well as Mughal and Persian Arts. Kachchi/Kutchchhi embroidery involves the use of silk or woollen thread in fine stitches to create intricate patterns. Being the vibrant and colourful state that Gujarat is, the choice of colours used are mainly yellow, green, bright orange, shocking pink, deep red, and blue. Over the years various tribes around the Kutch region have mastered the essentials of Kutch Embroidery and added their own distinctive style and unique signature that has resulted in derived embroidery forms such as Rabari, Mutwa, Ahir and Mochi.
Among all the best known of the Kutch embroidery techniques is the Aribharat, which is also known as Mochibharat as it used to be done by Mochis (cobblers). Another very popular form – the Abhla (mirror) work, which is also a part of Rabari Embroidery, is mainly used on garments, accessories and decorative objects to beautify them. It is also very popular in men’s clothing in the form of over garments like jackets. It has many connotations depending on usage like for e.g. on a Toran it is supposed to ward of the bad spirit from entering the house. The mirrors can be as small as 1 cm to as large as 5 cm and in various different shapes from round to square. In earlier times the mirrored embroideries were traditionally stitched by the village women for themselves and their families, for festivity, to generate wealth and to honour the divine.
The most popular and recognised example of the Kutch embroidery garment is the “Chaniya-Choli” (a traditional skirt, blouse and an odhani), worn especially during the nine day festival of the Navratara (fondly known as the sunburn of India), which falls mostly in the month of October (about 20 days before Diwali).
Traditional but never stagnant, Kutch embroidery evolved over time responding to prevailing trends and became one of the most popular forms of the art. Many national and international designers like Jean Paul Gaultier and YSL have been inspired by the history of Kutch and have adopted and adapted the Kutchchhi work in their creations. The most coveted (& ultra expensive) red-sole shoe master, Christian Louboutin, has dedicated a shoe line called “Bollywoody” which captured the essence of the Indian Kutch artistry.
A Kutch Konnect, with the International Fashion Arena buzzing with this unique form of art, our very own Bollywood was not to be left behind. The first commercial films where the Kutch outfits have been portrayed the best are ‘Refugee’, ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’, ‘Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’ and ‘Ram-Leela’ apart from many other smaller budgeted films and telly-serials being shot in Kutch or having prominent characters belonging from the region and donning the embroidered outfits.
“Embroidery used in Bollywood garments is never purely dedicated to one kind of embroidery theme”, says Bhavin Trivedi an Ahmedabad based designer. “Bollywood uses many different types of look to create the necessary visual effect. For example, although Deepika’s costume in Ram-Leela does have Kutchchhi Embroidery work especially in the song ‘Nagada Sang Dhol’, the colour theme chosen is not one that is appropriate for an unmarried girl in Kutch. It is a very different kind of colour combinations, but again, that was needed for the cinematographic balance and effect. It was a similar adjustment for Aishwarya’s clothes in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. A Kachchi women would never wear a black odhani (or any black garment) because it is traditionally the colour used to symbolise a ‘widow’s weed’. They would rather opt for colours like blue (cobalt blue) with shocking pink and likewise.”
Apart from the clothes, Kachchi/Kutchi work is also popular on various other decorative products: accessories like Shawls, Scarf, Toran, Clutches, Mojaris, Bags, Ottomans, Wall Hangings, Bed-Sheets, Cushion Covers, and Table-Cover, Mobile-Pouches etc.
An exquisite form of embroidery, Kutch work in many ways reflects the vibrancy of its state and country through its colours, design, embellishments and motifs.
As Bhavin Bhai says “In Kachchi Embroidery there are 100+ types of stitches, plethora of colours and adaptability to various objects and application which makes the embroidery special and unique yet friendly to use”.
In Kutch Konnect we also showcase A video documentary on Kutchi work.
Also read about Nawabi Chikankari and watch full documentary.
